Curiosity and Passion

A Bid from Umeå to Become the EU’s Northernmost European Capital of Culture Ever Curiosity and Passion – the Art of Co-Creation Curiosity and Passion – the Art of Co-Creation We are very enthusiastic and have a deep sense of gratitude that so many have already been co-creative in the process to make Umeå European Capital of Culture 2014. We will now proceed with our development of “the Culturized City/Region” with curiosity and passion, and in close collaboration with our citizens and partners in the Umeå region, as well as with our partners in northern Sweden, Europe and the world. Marie-Louise Rönnmark Jan Björinge MAYOR OF THE CITY OF UmeÅ (S) CITY MANAGer CHAIRPersON, POLITICAL STeerING COmmITTee, UmeÅ 2014 HEAD OF MANAGemeNT COmmITTee, UmeÅ 2014 Political Steering Committee: Lars-Erik Edlund, Alireza Mosahafi, Daniel Kallos, Lennart Johansson, Marie-Louise Rönnmark, Anna-Karin Sjöstrand, Tomas Wennström, Ingela M. Eriksson, Sven-Olof Edvinsson, Lena Sandlin (Absent from Photo: Eva Westman Modig) Page Contents 7 Part I. Basic Principles 35 Part II. Structure of the Programme for the Event 41 Part III. Organisation and Financing of the Event 46 Part IV. City Infrastructure 52 Part V. Communication Strategy 55 Part VI. Evaluation and Monitoring of the Event 56 Part VII. Additional Information 61 List of Photographs 63 Appendix 1. Umeå – A Symphony in Four Movements 69 Appendix 2. Umeå in Pictures Appendix 3. Umeå – The Movie Part I. Basic Principles Question 1: Why does Umeå wish to take part in the competition for the title of European Capital of Culture? What, for it, would be the main challenges of this nomination? What are the city’s objectives for the year in question? Setting the Scene: Umeå – An Unusual Place The real challenge of this bid is to call upon and use our northern spirit to raise provocative, yet significant new questions for culture to address; to explore ways of looking at traditional art forms; to pro- duce novel, innovative cultural expressions; as well as to use culture to help solve the challenges of the world. This is all part of a long-term ambition to develop Umeå as if it were a living work of art, with all the aspiration, attention to detail and imagination that this implies. We are confident that we have something to offer, together with the northern region, Sweden, Europe and the rest of the world: something surprising, unusual and important. Umeå is large enough to be taken seriously and small enough to make it happen. This campaign is on behalf of the northernmost region of Europe, which wants to see itself not as on the periphery of Europe, but as part of its heart. Umeå 2014 will use cultural participation to open all our senses, to embed creativity as part of everyday life in seeking opportunities and solving problems. To use creativity “for the world” and to make it a better place, so redefining what a cultural capital curIOSITY AND PAssION 7 can be. This we hope will help shift our individual and collective behaviour so that it becomes truly sustainable. Our bid for the European Capital of Culture Award is founded on a long-term strategy whose aim has been to build competence, concern and creative capacity. This we believe will create the necessary resil- UMEÅ ience to address future needs and help entrench our networks. For Umeå 2014 has already started. The year itself would be a marker of achievement, a stepping-stone along the way. In this way we want to show how Umeå can be a model of cultural development. This we hope will leave a legacy for the city and most importantly for Europe too. Stockholm Umeå could be the northernmost European Capital of Culture in the Göteborg European Union. For the first time the northern perspective would be exposed. This will go well beyond its unique expressions, themes and festivals inspired by the midnight sun, Aurora Borealis, northern nature and Sami culture. Facts A Culture of Curiosity Umeå The creative journey starts by being curious. It is curiosity that awakes Population: 112 000 our initial interest. This in turn sparks imagination. Once we are imagi- Students: 30 000 native we can become creative, from which innovation and inventions Companies: 12 000 grow. With curiosity the entrepreneurial spirit can mature. Birch Trees in City Centre: 3 000 Date of Foundation: 1622 We are at the edge geographically, yet at the cutting edge in how we Sun Hours per Annum: 1 800 use our diversity of imagination. Umeå punches well above its weight. Surface Area: 2 317 km2 The city often leads the way, because it has etched a culture of curiosity into its expressions and the way it behaves. The northern region Population: We believe we have a bid that can widen and deepen the concept and County of Norrbotten 251 886 experience of the European Capital of Culture. We have a vision, a County of Västerbotten 257 593 challenging mission, a strategy based on successful experience and County of Västernorrland 243 449 a programme that consists of eight different themes, each with the County of Jämtland 126 937 aim of presenting a multitude of experiences within different art forms. Total 879 865 Umeå Means U+Me = The Art of Co-Creation Working in partnership comes naturally to us locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. The aim has always been to focus on what really matters to all of us as citizens, cities and civilizations. The most important of these are conviviality and co-creation – the art of living together. Umeå has the commitment of co-creating the European Capital of Culture with the four northernmost regions of Sweden. Umeå has a rapidly growing population and about 30,000 university students. We are prepared to fill this project with unbridled passion, curiosity, joy, and co-creation! At this early stage we have already collected more than 200 ideas for projects in culture and sports from citizens, cultural workers, voluntary associations, private corporations and public institutions. Umeå is a special, unusual place. It represents distance and close- ness, dark days, reflecting snow, the magic Aurora Borealis and light nights with plants growing around the clock. It is a place that enlight- ens from within a northern dimension. We understand how culture and nature can live and work together. 2014 will be Umeå’s 700th anniversary as acknowledged by the papal document. Yet 2014 will at the same time be a catalyst for thinking of the future. For instance, 2009 will be the 200th anniversary of peace on Swedish soil, and this peace perspective is embedded in how we think about 2014. The last battle on Swedish soil took place in the Umeå region in 1809. Since then we have put all our efforts into peace- keeping diplomacy and collaboration for a better world. We have been curIOSITY AND PAssION successful. Vasa in Finland, which became part of Russia in 1809, is today our closest neighbouring city and best friend. Instead of trying to be a candidate themselves for 2011, they have decided to be our passionate partner in the bid for European Capital of Culture in 2014. We are one of the few northern cities that has continually expanded over the last 40 years. This year we were awarded “The City of Eco- nomic Growth in Sweden”. The founding of Umeå University in 1965 has been a crucial catalyst in this process. It attracts young people, and they feel that here in Umeå they can do creative things that are more difficult to do elsewhere. The university has deepened and wid- ened the international dimensions of the city, and its international students contribute to the diversity of cultural life in Umeå. Umeå has tried to be imaginative in everything it does and its artistic imagination has created a culture that is a fundamental part of Umeå’s life. We started to work with urban creativity well before it became popular. Provocative new thinking has for decades inspired the city’s activities. We are progressive, forward-looking, innovation- driven and creative, and we have a record of achievement. Umeå has invested heavily in cultural content and institutions. The cultural infrastructure, ranging from theatres to opera, to the library network, to music venues, museums and subcultures, is far larger and more active and developed than in cities of equivalent size. Our cultural institutions are nationally and globally networked, and our cultural associations are strong and active. The Theatre Association is the largest in Sweden, and the opera house of Umeå has been visited by over 80% of the population. We have been able to democra- tize what seem like elite forms of art. curIOSITY AND PAssION 9 An invitation to the North The northern region has always been regarded as borderless by its indigenous people – the Sami. This still remains a relevant notion. To live beyond boundaries and barriers is a central theme in the Euro- pean idea and its ideals. We like to describe ourselves in the northern region as being “the Northern Room in the European Building”. This northern realm covers vast tracts across several countries, where there is a special vibrancy, gustiness, motivation and will. Our bid is an invitation to this magic and exciting borderless country, with the unique Sami culture as one of its highlights. Historically, the outside world has often varied in its descriptions of this borderless northern place, seeing it either as a country of the future, or as completely marginalised. For centuries travellers have visited this vast region, and some incomers have stayed to seek a better life, mixing with the Sami and, at times, creating conflicts about living together.

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